President Obama turns his news conference into a plea for understanding in the Trayvon Martin case.

President Obama turns his news conference into a plea for understanding in the Trayvon Martin case.

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President Barack Obama while remarking on the outcome of the trial of George Zimmerman, who fatally shot Trayvon Martin, at the White House, in Washington, July 19, 2013. Making a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room, Obama spoke in personal terms about the experience of being a black man in the U.S., trying to put the case in the perspective of African-Americans. (Doug Mills/The New York Times) less

President Barack Obama while remarking on the outcome of the trial of George Zimmerman, who fatally shot Trayvon Martin, at the White House, in Washington, July 19, 2013. Making a surprise appearance in the ... more

Photo: Doug Mills, New York Times

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President Obama urges 'soul searching' over Martin

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Washington --

President Obama, in his first public comments about the verdict in the Trayvon Martin shooting death, delivered on Friday some of his most extensive and personal remarks on race since entering the White House as he described what it's like to be a black man in America.

"Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago," Obama said in an unscheduled appearance before reporters at the White House. "It's important to recognize that the African American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that doesn't go away."

The president detailed how most black men, including himself, have been followed when shopping in department stores, heard the locks click on car doors when walking across the street and seen women clutch their purses nervously when getting on elevators.

"Those sets of experiences inform how the African American community interprets what happened one night in Florida," he said. "And it's inescapable for people to bring those experiences to bear."

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Obama called on Americans to engage in "soul searching" as they think about last Saturday's acquittal of George Zimmerman, 29, who shot Martin, 17, as he was walking through a gated community in February 2012, and what "concrete steps" they might take to prevent other such deaths.

The president made the surprise appearance at the daily White House news briefing to speak about a case that's generated scattered demonstrations across the nation since the jury in Sanford, Fla., found Zimmerman not guilty. Zimmerman argued that he was defending himself.

Obama had issued a statement last weekend that called on every American to undergo a period of "calm reflection," after the verdict. But some African Americans and civil rights groups have been clamoring for him to speak publicly about the case.

The president said he and his staff were considering an examination of state and local laws - including stand-your-ground laws - a type of self-defense measure in more than two dozen states that gives people the right to use reasonable force to defend themselves without requiring them to retreat from dangerous situations.